


Penguin White

by Inkfowl



Series: Once Upon a Time in Gotham [1]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Gen, Humor, M/M, Snow White Elements, The Rogues are the Dwarves, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29457636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkfowl/pseuds/Inkfowl
Summary: I wanted a Snow White AU for the longest time, and I finally got around to it.  However...I decided to take quite a few liberties with the story...Not to worry, the skeleton of the story is there; and there's plenty of romance and humor to go around!
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Jim Gordon
Series: Once Upon a Time in Gotham [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2165586
Comments: 13
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Catwoman19 in the discord for beta-ing this mess, and therefore giving me the confidence to finally post this after it'd been sitting in my docs for way too long.

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Gotham, Queen Gertrud sat at her window while her beloved Elijah was away attending court. It was the middle of winter, and the snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky, but she didn’t mind the cold. She was working on her ebony embroidery-frame, which admittedly, she wasn’t very good at, Elijah was much better with a needle. As she worked, gazing at times out on the snow, she pricked her finger, and from it fell three drops of blood onto her snow covered windowsill. When she saw how bright and red it looked, she said to herself.

"Oh that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as my embroidery frame!"

Not very long after she had a son named Oswald, with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. He also had a nose that was uniquely hooked and a waddling gait which earned him the nickname Penguin. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after Oswald started to walk that Queen Gertrud fell terribly ill and passed away. Once she was buried, King Elijah’s health started to rapidly decline. He lived to see Oswald’s fifth birthday, but died days after, the beloved king went the way of his queen.

With Oswald too young to take over, the kingdom fell to the royal advisor, Fish Mooney. Lady Mooney was a beautiful, intelligent, woman, but proud and overbearing, and she could not bear to be surpassed in beauty by any one. She had a magic looking-glass, and she used to stand before it, look in it, and ask,

"Looking-glass upon the wall, who is fairest of them all?"

And the looking-glass would always answer. "You are fairest of them all."

And Fish would smile wide, for she knew that the looking-glass spoke the truth.

However, as time passed, Penguin was growing prettier and prettier, and when he was seven years old he was as beautiful as day, far more so than Fish herself. So one day when she went to her mirror and said,

"Looking-glass upon the wall, who is fairest of us all?"

It answered,

"Miss Mooney, you are fair, 'tis true, but Penguin is far fairer than you."

This gave Lady Fish a great shock, and she became green with envy, and from that hour her heart turned against Penguin, and she hated him. She spent years keeping him locked in the castle, and forcing him to wear rags and do dirty chores. It worked for a while, but on the day before the prince’s eighteenth birthday, Lady Fish’s mirror repeated the bad news.

"Miss Mooney, you are fair, 'tis true, but Penguin is far fairer than you."

Knowing there was nothing else she could do to tarnish Oswald’s image, she decided to destroy the man himself. At last she sent for Jim Gordon, a young, new huntsman in town who wouldn’t be privy to Penguin’s true identity, she didn’t need anyone getting political. He was brought to her throne room and she was surprised at just  _ how _ young he was, about the same age as the prince. Still, he was here so she gave him her orders.

"I have a problem that needs to be taken care of.”

Jim glanced around, uninterested. “That’s why I’m here isn’t it? What is it? Raccoons, wolves…”

“A  _ penguin _ .”

Jim raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know they were part of the local wildlife.”

“They’re  **not** .” Fish sat back in her throne. “But this one has been inhabiting my castle for far too long. He’s...one of my  _ servants _ , and-”

“Wait, we’re talking about a  **person** ?”

“A nuisance.” She corrected. “I need you to take this penguin out to the pier, and...let him swim with the fishes.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t hunt  **people** .” Jim turned to leave. “But I’ll be sure to tell everyone else you’re looking for an assassin.”

Suddenly his way was barred by guards. He heard Fish click her tongue. “Oh dear, you see that’s just going to give me another problem. So now my deal has changed. Either you kill Penguin and dump his body in the river...or else I’m going to kill you before you can say a word.”

Jim growled. “You’re insane.”

“Insanely rich, powerful, and beautiful, you’re right.” She smiled venomously. “So what’s it going to be?”

* * *

With no choice, Jim hardened his heart and took Penguin out to the pier that night. The water was so serene, and in the moonlight it reflected the nearby woods. Penguin strolled so casually out to the end of the pier, Jim lagged behind him. Then he sat down on the edge and patted the spot beside him.

Jim knew he shouldn’t. He should just stab the boy in the back right now and get it over with. However, he still sat down next to Penguin and let his feet dangle over the water. They were both quiet; Jim glanced over. Penguin was staring up at the sky, his blue eyes full of wonder, shining in the starlight. He looked so beautiful and innocent that Jim couldn’t begin to imagine what this servant could’ve done to upset Lady Mooney so.

Jim looked out at the dark water. He ran his thumb over the special dagger Lady Fish had given him for the occasion, she wanted it to be  _ personal _ . It had a bejeweled silver handle with a fish symbol engraved on it, and it disgusted Jim to think how much thought Lady Fish had put into this.

“You’re new to Gotham, aren’t you?”

The question surprised him and he looked at Penguin. “Huh?”

“You said something earlier on our walk about wishing you could see more of the city. So, you’re new, yes?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. I’m really only passing through though.”

“Really? May I ask why?”

Jim considered telling the truth since it would die with Penguin anyway, but he couldn’t. “Just...life of a nomadic hunter.”

Penguin sighed wistfully towards the water. “That must be exciting. I wish I could move as freely as you do, but Fish is  _ very _ insistent that I stay within the castle.”

“Huh.” It seemed odd that Lady Mooney would be so protective of a servant only to have them killed.

“In fact, this is my first time outside of the walls since I was a child.” Penguin turned his smile on Jim, locking their blue eyes. “So I’m thankful such a handsome man like you asked me on this walk. I don’t know what you did to get Fish to change her mind, but I’m extremely grateful for it.”

As if that wasn’t enough, the feel of delicate fingertips brushing his knuckles melted Jim’s typically steel nerves. He glanced down at their hands, and then back to Penguin’s face, letting his eyes linger on those red lips for a moment. Then he watched those lips get closer until they touched his cheek.

Panicked, Jim hurried to his feet. “I-I can’t.”

Penguin stood up too. “Oh Jim I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean you any-”

“No!” He grabbed Penguin by the shoulders. “No, you don’t have to apologize for anything. I’m the one in the wrong here, but I’m not going to let it go any further.” He sighed. “Penguin, I asked you to this pier because Lady Fish ordered me to kill you.”

It seemed his words didn’t register at first, but then Penguin furrowed his brows. “W-What? No...Fish would never do that. She’s been like a mother to me.”

“Well, I don’t know any kind of mother that would hire a huntsman to throw her child into a river.”

Penguin’s eyes started to fill with tears. “No! It’s not true! I’m going to talk to Fish right now!” He started to move, but Jim held him firmly in place. “Unhand me!”

“I’m afraid I can’t. If you  _ ever _ go back to that castle, we’ll both be killed.”

Solemn, Penguin’s shoulders dropped. “Then...what can we do?”

“I...I don’t…” Jim looked off to the side, to the gentle waves on the water’s surface. He saw the woods in the distance and an idea came to him. “We could fake it.”

“What?”

“Your death. We could fake it and you could swim off towards the woods. You could run far, far away from here and...and explore the world all you want.”

Penguin lowered his head. “But...Gotham is my home, I can’t leave.”

“I'm afraid you don’t have a choice. You either take your chances in the woods, or stay here and be executed.”

There was silence between them. Then Penguin nodded. “So...how was I supposed to die?”

“I’m supposed to stab you with  _ this _ knife, take your heart, and dump your body off the pier.”

Penguin was surprisingly calm hearing the news. “Hm...finding a heart might be a problem, especially at this hour.”

“I might have one back at my cabin, I killed a boar recently.”

“Hm, yes that might work.” Penguin straightened up. “Alright, one last thing then…” he held out his hand for the knife.

Jim slowly handed it over, and watched as Penguin pulled the blade across his palm. They both winced at the dark red now staining his porcelain skin. Then Penguin handed the knife back with a weak smile.

“It’d be suspicious if you return with a clean knife.” He walked towards the very end of the pier, and turned around.

He held out his bloody hand to Jim. Jim sighed and shook it. Still holding on, Penguin leaned back on his heels, supported only by Jim’s hand.

“Thank you for your kindness James Gordon. I do hope we meet again.”

Jim wanted to pull Penguin back up, try to help him some other way, and he hoped his eyes said all that he couldn’t. “For your sake...I hope we don’t.”

Penguin smiled again, so sweetly, and then he let go. His hand slipped from Jim’s grasp and he fell back into the dark water, disappearing under the waves.

Jim continued to stare at the red streak left on his hand, outlined by the quiet night around him. Then he knew he had to get back to the task at hand. Reluctantly, he left the pier, he had a job to finish.

* * *

He ran back to his home, found the boar’s heart, and then returned to the castle. He presented his evidence to Lady Mooney. The wicked woman held the heart up with glee, digging into it with her nails.

“Tell me huntsman, how’d you do it? Did he suffer?”

Jim clenched his jaw before answering. “No. It was a quick job.”

“Pity.” She absently waved to one of her guards, and Jim was handed a sack of coins. “But as long as it’s done, that’s what matters.”

Jim held the coins in his hand. He wished he could throw them back in Lady Mooney’s face. He also thought about refusing to take the blood money, but it could raise suspicion he didn’t need; and it might be more moral to take her abundant funds instead of letting it go back in a chest somewhere. He stashed the bag in his coat where he caught sight of the dagger, he pulled it out.

“Did you want this back?”

She looked at it and her lips curled into a smile at the sight of its stained blade. “No, why don’t you keep it? It’ll be a nice reminder of our... _ friendship _ .”

Jim sheathed it without taking his eyes off of Lady Fish. “Well...seeing as our deal is complete, I think I’ll show myself out.”

“Fare thee well, huntsman, and do remember-” she put a finger to her lips, “our little secret.”

Jim gave her one more glare and turned to leave. As he walked away he heard her give the instructions to have the heart salted and cooked. Even though he knew it wasn’t Penguin’s...the thought that it could’ve been, it made him sick.


	2. Chapter 2

As years passed, Jim decided to stay around Gotham. He made a decent living here, and the people were nice...for the most part. He’d still see some of Lady Mooney’s guards in town and be reminded of their bloodthirsty employer. Although, it seemed he wasn’t the only one who disliked Gotham’s “Queen”. There were plenty of murmurs in the street about how things had changed since Gertrud and Elijah ruled, and that unrest was becoming common.

Jim was never one for politics, in fact he tried avoiding them all his life, but he didn’t mind hearing all the dirt on Lady Mooney. He only wished he could contribute, but as much as he hated her, he knew she was too dangerous to expose. So instead, he kept his head down and did whatever jobs came his way, or he’d sell pelts on the outskirts of town.

Every hunting venture in the woods also reminded him of his early time in Gotham. He often wondered about Penguin: if the man had even made it to the woods, if he survived the beasts within, or if he was living somewhere peacefully, far away. Sometimes he hoped he’d catch a glimpse of black hair and ivory skin while he walked through the trees. Instead, he only found deer and foxes and other animals.

One day, he was checking his traps, and he  _ did _ see the shape of a person. However, this one was a woman with long red hair that was full of twigs and leaves. He drew his bow and called out.

“Hey! You! What are you doing?”

She turned and hissed at him. “Setting this poor creature free you monster!”

“Hey, no! No, no, no don’t-” The next second, his prey was running loose. “Oh come on…”

The lady started sprinting too, and, against his better judgment, Jim gave chase. For months his traps had been tampered with, and now he’d found the culprit.

They dodged around trees, jumping over roots and small streams. It seemed the woman had an unfair advantage, it was like the forest was bending to her will while trying to trip Jim up at every step. Branches ripped into his skin and clothes. Still, he didn’t give up.

She stopped in a small clearing, catching her breath. Jim was breathing heavy too, but he continued to step closer, and that’s when he noticed rustling around them. There were eyes too, lots of eyes. Then he felt the tip of something sharp against his back.

From the trees above, a girl dropped down from the branches. Her curly hair almost didn’t fit under her hood.

“Money and weapons, drop ‘em.”

Jim didn’t obey. “Aren’t you a little young for a robber?”

She smirked. “I’m trying to move up from humble pick-pocket. Now, your stuff, on the ground.”

“And if I don’t?” Jim was answered by another poke to his back.

The girl stepped closer. “Look pal, you’re in Rogues’ territory. So either you give it, or we’ll take it.”

He remembered the engraved knife he always kept on him. “How about this, you can have all the money, but I’m keeping my weapons, tools of the trade, you know?”

The redhead stood tall again. “You mean the tools of a murderer?”

“I’m only a murderer if Lady Mooney asks. Otherwise, I’m just a hunter trying to supply families with meat and furs.”

“What do you mean?” The voice came from behind him, it sounded muffled. “What do you mean  _ if Lady Mooney asks _ ?”

“I mean...once upon a time, she ordered me to kill someone-” Jim started to turn back.

“Who?” That question came from the girl again.

Jim looked at the girl. She and the redhead had both come closer, as did some more people from the brush: a bald man and a redheaded boy. Jim was surrounded. Still, he didn’t feel too uneasy.

“Why does it matter?”

The bald man spoke. “Because, we want to know what kind of an assassin you are. Who was your target? High, low, political…?”

“He was a nobody, alright? And I didn’t even kill him.”

There was another poke to his back. “What’s your name?”

Jim shook his head. “I’m not telling you my name.”

Suddenly everyone had a weapon trained on him. The person behind him asked again in a harsher tone. “What’s your name?”

He sighed. “Jim Gordon.”

The pressure at his back let up and a second later all the weapons were lowered. There was the crunch of leaves to his right and he looked over to see a man. A man with ebony hair, snow white skin, and crystal blue eyes. He wore a scarf over the bottom half of his face, but when he pulled it down, his blood red lips were curled into a smile.

“Hello, old friend.”

“P-Penguin?” Jim couldn’t believe it. After years of looking over his shoulder, hoping for glimpses among the trees and now...here Penguin was, standing in front of him.

The bald man spoke up again. “Wait... _ this _ is the guy? Really? This is the one you’ve been talking about for years?”

The girl also had something to say. “From your description I was expecting a little more ‘prince charming’, or at least someone who’s bathed in the past week.”

Penguin shushed them and then turned back to Jim. “Oh don’t mind Zsasz and Selina, they don’t mean it. Although...you might want to consider washing up a bit when we get home.”

“Home?”

The redhead stomped her foot. “What? We are not taking this animal killer back to the hideout Pengy!”

“Ivy...I hate to say this, but Jerome and Zsasz go hunting all the time. The rest of us eat meat, you know this.”

“Yeah but…I thought you said all those animals died peacefully of old age.” Ivy looked crushed. “I...I’ll meet you back at the house. I’m going to take a long and thoughtful walk.”

As she slumped off into the woods, Zsasz yelled after her. “I’m sorry Ivy! You weren’t supposed to find out like this!”

The red haired boy, Jerome, also shouted. “I’m not sorry Ivy! Have fun with your crisis!”

After watching that scene, Jim shot a look at Penguin, who just shrugged. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. She gets this way when we cut down a tree for firewood too, just give her some time. To the hideout then?”

The next thing Jim knew was that he was standing in front of a quaint cottage in the middle of the woods. There was also a shack, a few tents, and a tree house in the area. The group disbanded to go their own way, Selina scampered up to the tree house, Jerome and Zsasz went off, and Penguin led Jim into the cottage.

It was surprisingly cozy, despite the rack of weapons in the entryway. There was a nice sitting area with a fireplace, a desk in the corner, and the kitchen was organized and tidy. As soon as they entered Jim had to do a double-take at the person at the desk because he looked almost exactly like Jerome.

“Penguin!” He adjusted his glasses. “We need to have a serious talk about the expansion of- Who is this?”

Penguin smiled. “Jeremiah, this is Jim Gordon, he’s the huntsman who spared my life.”

Jeremiah gave Jim a glance over. “And...why is he here?”

“Well, he was chasing Ivy so we decided to rob him, but then-”

“I’ve changed my mind, I don’t care. Just another thing to drive me crazy out here.” He shook his head and went back to the desk. “Between Jerome, the increased royal patrols, Jerome, Selina sneaking off every night, Ivy’s unorganized attempts at environmental justice,  _ Jerome _ ...I have been having a very stressful time.”

Penguin went to give him a pat on the back. “I promise, once I finish giving Jim the tour, I’ll hear out all of your concerns.”

Then he pointed to the stairs and gestured for Jim to follow. Once they were out of earshot, Jim had to ask.

“So...Jerome and Jeremiah?”

“Twins, yes. And boy, does the sibling rivalry run deep. Even if Jeremiah doesn’t want to believe it, they’re both in competition for who’s the craziest. Although some days, it’s a one in seven chance between the whole crew.”

Jim stopped. “One in  _ seven _ ? There’s more people here?”

“That’s right you haven’t met everyone. We can check Bridgit’s room and see if she’s here.” Penguin cracked open a door down the hall. “Oh, it seems she’s out. Probably playing with fire somewhere.”

Jim gave him a look that prompted Penguin to continue. “She’s our resident expert on utilizing and manipulating fire. She’s been a great help, but...it sometimes makes things difficult since she rooms with Ivy, who doesn’t even like our campfires.”

“Uh huh,” Jim peeked inside to see two very different sides of the bedroom, “and you can’t put them in separate rooms?”

Penguin closed the door. “Unfortunately we don’t have enough rooms for that. Although we could always build one of them a new place. That’s what we did for a few others. Selina lives in the treehouse, Jeremiah in the tent, and then Jerome and Zsasz have their own rooms in the house.”

Jim counted on his fingers. “Alright, and then the seventh?”

“Oh yes, other Victor!”

“ _ Other _ Victor?”

“Victor Fries.” Penguin continued walking towards the end of the hallway. “He lives in the cave not too far from here.”

“He lives in a  _ cave _ ?”

“It’s cooler in there.” Penguin said it as if Jim should understand.

Then they reached the door at the end of the hall. Penguin opened it to reveal another bedroom. “And this one is mine.”

It was by far the nicest thing on the tour. A four-poster bed, a rather large dresser, and a worn armchair by the window. Jim followed Penguin in and looked around.

“Whew, this certainly beats the servant’s quarters huh?”

“We don’t have servants here.”

“Oh, no I meant that you...nevermind.” It was probably best Jim didn’t bring up anything about Fish or Gotham. “So...you’re, you’re doing pretty well for yourself out here.”

“It’s not much, but it could always be worse.”

The room was quiet and Jim bit his lip. “If...If I may ask, how did you...I mean after the…”

Penguin caught his meaning and nodded. Then he sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him. Jim was reminded of their time on the pier as he sat beside the other man. Once they were settled, Penguin began his story.

“After you saved my life, I swam to the edge of the forest. Well, washed up is more like it. That’s where Ivy found me. She was just a little sprout back then, but still the best healer I’ve ever known. After a bout of bedrest, I met the rest of the group. Although, at the time it was only Ivy and Zsasz. I was so thankful that they took me in and taught me everything they could. I learned to fight, to steal, to survive…and in exchange I gave them what they lacked.”

“A clean house?”

Penguin chuckled. “In a way, but no, I gave them guidance. Picking pockets and random muggings weren’t reliable enough. So, I helped them organize. We planned out routes along the roads where we could hold up carriages, or charge tolls. Then when our group started getting bigger, so did our projects. Rob a house here, maybe a store there, and mess with the law enforcement if there’s time.”

All the while Penguin was cheery, but Jim couldn’t even imagine someone like Penguin doing these things. However, before he could ask any more questions, there was a knock...on the window.

Selina was hanging upside down, knocking once more before Oswald got up to open the window. Then she dropped to the roof.

“Hey Pengy, could we have fish for dinner tonight?”

He sighed. “You know I’m not in charge of the menu, Cat.”

“Yeah, but can’t you talk to Fries about it? He likes you.”

“How about this...I’ll talk to him once your room is clean.”

She scoffed. “What are you talking about? I cleaned it yesterday when everybody else did.”

Penguin raised an eyebrow. “Is that true, or are you just saying that because I can’t climb up there to check?”

“Um…”

“So if I have Jim here go up there and report back to me, it’s going to be spotless?”

Jim gave Penguin an odd look the same time Selina did, both speaking. “What?”

Penguin shrugged. “Why not? Afterwards you could show him around the rest of camp, and I have a meeting with Jeremiah anyway. If you do that, I’ll look into dinner plans.”

Selina rolled her eyes, but then ended on Jim. “Fine, I’ll entertain  _ your _ guest. Follow me.”

She started climbing out of the window as Jim glanced between her and Penguin. He was encouraged to go by Penguin, so even though he wasn’t certain, he followed Selina onto the roof.

She scampered right up to the treehouse, but it took Jim some time to find his footing. Eventually he struggled up the rope ladder and into the room. No wonder Penguin doubted Selina’s cleaning, there were piles of clothes and things everywhere. Two cats passed by Jim’s feet as he avoided hitting his head on a hanging lantern.

He cleared off a chair to sit down. “I guess I do have something to report.”

Selina sighed and started gathering things up. “It’s a work in progress.”

Jim looked around the room some more before focusing on her again. “So...how’d you come to join this group?”

“Ugh, do we have to talk?” She stopped what she was doing. “How about this, I’ll tell you anything and everything if you clean up for me?”

“What? All I asked was-”

“Uh huh, but you’re not going to stop there, are you?”

It was quiet, and then Jim stood up to grab a box. “Fine.”

Selina skipped over to the chair. “Alright, you want to hear my story, huh? Let’s see, I was born and now I’m here.”

Jim gave her a look. She smirked and then clicked her tongue a few times before continuing. “I don’t know who my father is, and I don’t care to know. As soon as I was able to walk and talk my mother abandoned me on the streets. Grew up alone, stealing what I needed, wreaking havoc like any child would, and then I met Bridgit.”

“Wait, the same Bridgit who-”

“Yep. We became thick as thieves back in Gotham. I’d give her some of my loot and in exchange she would give me food and hide me in their family barn. Although it wasn’t much of a family, just her and her older brothers.”

“Really? How many brothers does she have?”

“ _ Had _ . She had three brothers.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, did they…”

“Perished. Bastards were burned to a crisp when their barn caught on fire.” Selina was checking her nails, but then gave Jim a pointed look. “Total accident.”

“D-Did Bridgit make it out okay?”

“Yeah, she told me she was safe outside the whole time.”

Jim paused again to give Selina a questioning look. Her face never changed. “Total. Accident.”

He decided not to press the Bridgit topic any further. “So, how did you two end up here then?”

“Well...after the barn accident, Bridgit and I decided to skip town, not because we had to of course.”

“Of course.”

“And while we were making our way through the forest, we saw this guy. Short, skinny, walks with a limp, easy target...or so we thought. We were ambushed much like you were, and also like you, we were brought back here.” She shifted in the chair. “Although, we were brought back because we had useful skills, not just because Penguin thinks we’re cute.”

Jim scoffed, but he knew his cheeks were warm. “Very funny. It was because I spared his life.”

“Speaking of, why did you save his life? Did you think  _ he _ was cute?”

“N-No, I spared his life because it was the right thing to do. He was an innocent who didn’t deserve to die.”

“So you don’t think he’s attractive then? Odd, most people around here would beg to differ.”

“Hey,” Jim pointed at her, “I thought only the person cleaning gets to ask questions.”

She leaned back in the chair. “Alright, alright. What else do you want to know?”

“Hm...why don’t you tell me about the rest of the people in camp?”

“Why don’t I just give you the tour?” Selina stood up and walked to the trap door. “You’ve seen the house, but I could show you everything else.”

Jim gestured to the rest of the dirty room. “Shouldn’t we finish this first?”

“It’s fine, you can see part of the floor. Come on.”

She disappeared before Jim could say anything else. Rolling his eyes, he threw some blankets on a pile and followed her. From the roof he could see the entire property. Selina stood on the edge and held out her arms.

“Behold, the camp of the Rogues. Who do you want to know about first?”

Jim looked over the camp when he saw Jerome poke his head out of the tent. The boy looked around suspiciously before ducking back inside. Jim nudged Selina and pointed at the tent. “What’s the deal with Jerome or...was that one Jeremiah?”

“Nah, that one’s Jerome. Although, I’ll admit I’ve gotten them confused more than once, especially when Jeremiah doesn’t wear his glasses. Anyway,” she shifted her weight, “they’re both more than a little crazy. Most people run off to  _ join _ travelling shows, they ran  _ away _ from one. That or they were kicked out, it’s never the same story twice.”

“Huh.” Jim took a cautious step towards the edge, trying to get a better look. He got a light push and almost tumbled over.

Selina chuckled as she passed him. “Watch your footing, huntsman.”

Then she dropped off the edge of the roof and lowered herself to the ground. Jim shot her a glare, but then followed her down. She scoffed at his dismount before walking towards the rest of the camp. He dusted himself off and chased after her.

“Hey, where are you going now?”

“Continuing our informative tour. Zsasz usually hangs around the armory so maybe you could bother him, too.”

Jim was going to say more, but resigned to his fate instead. He grumbled all the way across camp, until Selina stopped at a shack. She knocked once before simply barging in.

“Zsasz? You in here?” She stepped inside and huffed. “Guess not, just me and you again.”

Jim looked around the small shed. It was filled to the ceiling with arrows, bows, knives, swords, axes, etc. He had to watch his head as he maneuvered around the space, lest it be cut off. He poked a mace to test its sharpness and his finger started to bleed.

“You...you really take your weapons seriously here.”

“ _ Zsasz _ does.”

“Oh, so  _ you _ don’t take your weapon seriously?”

Selina shrugged. “Okay, but not as much as he does. I think his assassin past has something to do with it.”

“He was an assassin?”

“Mhm, best in the business. At least according to him. All we know for sure is that he was the youngest assassin in Gotham history.”

“Wait...how young?”

“His first bounty was collected at age sixteen.”

Jim stopped and looked at Selina, but she didn’t appear to be joking. “Sixteen?”

“That’s what I said. Short lived career though.” Selina picked up an arrow and spun it around. “He never told us  **what** , but he did something to piss off Queen Fish a few years later and instead of sticking around to be executed, he ran.”

“And then found this place?”

“Well, not right away…” She dropped the arrow into a bucket and strolled onto the daggers. “He told us these  _ daring _ stories of bouncing around the other kingdoms for a bit, getting jobs here and there, but eventually it came time to lay low and...ta-da, abandoned cottage. Okay, technically not abandoned, but the person who was there-”

“He didn’t…” Jim dragged a finger across his neck, “did he?”

Selina scoffed. “No, no, no. Let me clarify, it wasn’t technically abandoned because Ivy found it first, but they both found it on the same day.”

“The same day?”

“Almost at the same time too. I don’t believe in fate, but I believe something wanted these two to team up.” Selina paused. “Huh.”

“What?”

“Ivy told me she met Zsasz only a short time before finding Penguin.”

“Maybe you  _ should _ start believing in fate because that’s a lot of coincidences.”

“Yeah…maybe.”

The armory was quiet for a moment, and then there was a low rumble. Jim shot Selina a look, but she just blushed and covered her stomach.

“Although if there  _ was _ something looking out for us, I’d be having dinner right now.” She started walking away. “I’m going to check in with Fries myself, see if I can convince him to start cooking. You can come with, if you want.”

Jim had nothing else to do so he followed her out of the shack. “Now Fries...he’s the one who lives in the cave right?”

“Mhm, it’s cooler in there.” Like Penguin, Selina said this as if it were common knowledge.

Jim rolled his eyes. “Is anyone going to tell me  _ why _ he likes it cooler?”

“Ugh, I forget that I have to tell you everything. Fries has developed a method for storing food for extended periods by keeping it cold. So every winter we have to stuff the back of the cave full of ice, and somehow he makes it last the whole year. You can ask him more about it if you want, he talks in doctor jargon sometimes so I don’t bother listening.”

“Is...Is he a doctor?”

“Yeah, at least he claims to be. He came from up north so we’re not sure how credible he is, but so far he’s done a good job of keeping us healthy.”

“Huh. I wonder why someone from the northern kingdom would travel down to Gotham.”

Selina shrugged. “I think it had something to do with his wife. He’s trying to find a cure for her, but we have more resources or whatever down here. Again, ask him if you want to know more, he and I haven’t really seen eye to eye.”

“Is it because of your disagreements over dinner?”

“No, it’s because I called him ‘Mr. Freeze’. He hasn’t forgiven me.”

They were at the mouth of the cave and Jim could already feel the drop in temperature. It only got colder and darker as they went further and further in. There was finally a light up ahead and they heard voices echoing off the rock. They reached an inner room that was illuminated by lamps where they found Penguin and Fries.

Upon entering, Penguin turned to give Jim a big smile. “Jim! What brings you here?”

“Selina was uh...just showing me around.”

At the sound of the name, Fries turned to look at Selina and there was a tense moment.

“Cat.”

“ _ Mr. _ Freeze.”

Fries bristled a little, but straightened himself to address Penguin again. “I’ll be up to cook dinner once I finish this batch of  _ medicine _ ,” he shot a glare at Selina, “because I’m a  _ doctor. _ ”

Before Selina could say anything else, Penguin started to shoo everyone out of the cave. “And we’ll leave you to your very important work, Mr. Fr...Dr. Fries. Thank you for your time.”

Penguin continued moving people along until they were at the mouth of the cave. Then Selina spun around.

“So...did you get my fish onto the menu?”

“Yes I did, but-”

“Aw, thanks Pengy!” She gave him a quick hug before scampering off.

Penguin still had a finger up, ready to lecture her. “But...be nicer to Fries in the future! She’s not listening, is she?”

Jim chuckled. “I’d doubt it.”

“I’m guessing she didn’t clean her room either.”

“Nope.”

Penguin sighed. “I don’t know what we’re going to do with that child.” Then he perked up. “But, I hope you enjoyed your tour.”

“It was...informative.” Jim nudged Penguin. “It would’ve been better if you were my guide.”

The smaller man blushed. “Well...we can always take a stroll before dinner. If you’d like.”

Seeing the way Penguin’s finger twitched, Jim felt comfortable reaching out to hold his hand. “I’d like that very much.”

They smiled at each other and Penguin leaned his head on Jim’s shoulder as they started to walk.


	3. Chapter 3

Penguin told almost the exact same stories Selina did, only differing when the origin of the Valeskas were brought up, but either way, his voice was far more pleasing to listen to. When Penguin started to lead them away from the camp, Jim had to interject.

“Where are we going now?”

“Cat didn’t take you this way?” Penguin squeezed Jim’s arm excitedly.

“No…?”

“Well then, you’re going to love it!”

Despite the limp, Penguin started tugging Jim through a path in the woods. When they came to a stop they were almost out of breath. Although the scene itself could’ve taken Jim’s breath away. It was a secluded stream that was being fed by a cascading waterfall.

Penguin held out his arms. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Jim stepped forward and looked at the lush greenery alongside the blue water. He took a breath as he took in the fantastical environment. “Wow. This...this is…”

He was interrupted by a heavy sound. He glanced back to Penguin, and then quickly looked away when he saw the other man had dropped his shirt. “W-What are you doing?”

There was another thump and then the sound of rippling waves accompanied by Penguin’s voice. “As long as we’re here I might as well wash up.”

Jim raised his eyes again and saw Penguin half submerged in the pool. “B-But shouldn’t we be heading back for dinner?”

“Oh it’ll still be a while before anything’s ready.” Penguin smiled. “Why don’t you join me?”

Jim knew his cheeks were turning red. “Is this your way of telling me I need to bathe?”

“Cat wasn’t wrong when she mentioned it earlier.” The other man chuckled. “Could you fetch me some soap? We keep it stashed in that tree.”

There was a hole in a nearby tree that Jim retrieved a bag of soap from. “Do you have a preference on which bar?”

“Not at all.”

Jim grabbed one from the top and walked to the edge of the water. “Would you like me to  _ throw _ it, or will you come to get it?”

“I’d really like for you to bring it to me.”

“You’re not giving me much of a choice, are you?”

In place of a response, Penguin dipped deeper into the water. With a sigh that held no annoyance, Jim set the soap down and started pulling his shirt off. He gave Penguin a look before he fully disrobed, and waited for the other man to cover his eyes before he entered the pool.

Jim waded out to meet Penguin and he held out the soap. “Here you are your  _ highness _ .”

Penguin giggled. “Why thank you,  _ Lord James _ . I should keep you around as the official soap courier.”

“You wouldn’t keep me around otherwise?”

“If I’m being honest I wouldn’t want to keep you for any reason.”

Before Jim could open his mouth to question that statement Penguin started moving towards the waterfall. Jim followed closely behind.

“W-Wait, what do you mean by that?”

Penguin stopped just under the falling water, letting it run down his arm. “I mean I wouldn’t want to  _ keep _ you. I’d want you to stay of your own choice.”

He turned to lock eyes with Jim, his blue eyes held the same glimmer they had that fateful night. It was hard to ignore the comparison to their first meeting, from the pier above dark water to being submerged in a sparkling stream. The rush of the waterfall couldn’t compare to the rush Jim felt in his heart. He leaned in to press his lips against Penguin’s.

It seemed to surprise Penguin, but it only took a moment for him to put a hand on the back of Jim’s neck. They kissed over and over, opening their mouths ever so slightly. However, when Jim pulled Penguin closer they brushed against each other and remembered their current state of undress. They quickly parted, both of their faces flushing bright red.

After a few awkward moments, Penguin cleared his throat. “I...suppose we should...clean up and get back.”

“Y-Yeah. We wouldn’t want to miss dinner.”

They looked at each other one more time, and then started washing up. After getting dressed, they linked arms as they walked back to camp. They were still smiling as they entered the cottage where everyone was already gathered.

Zsasz let out an exasperated sigh. “Finally! What took you so long?”

Bridgit, who Jim identified by process of elimination, pointed to her head. “Is...your hair wet?”

Ivy whipped around in her seat. “It is! You kept us waiting so you could bathe?”

Selina scoffed. “I sure hope that’s  _ all _ you did.”

To stop all the noise, Penguin waved his hands. “Alright, alright I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting, but now you’re the ones wasting time with all this chatter.”

The point was taken, and all the Rogues were happy enough to finally start their meal. Penguin made sure there was a seat on his end of the table so Jim could sit next to him. For the most part the dinner conversation was mundane and casual. Jim had to be given context for several stories, but it wasn’t much of an issue. Then Jerome directed a question at him.

“How about you? What’s your story? Besides almost killing someone.”

Jim cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m not that exciting, a humble huntsman is all.”

“Come on, there’s got to be  _ something _ . Penguin mentioned you were new to Gotham when you met.” Jerome leaned over. “I wonder what drew you here, or maybe there’s something you're running from?”

There was a moment of inner panic as Jerome stared across the table. Before Jim was forced to answer, Penguin smacked Jerome’s arm.

“Not everyone has to have a dark past like you.” He resettled himself and looked at Jim. “Although, I must admit I’m curious to know more of your history too.”

With all the eyes on him, Jim had to think of something to say. He didn’t want to admit that Jerome wasn’t too far off, but he couldn’t start making up stories either. Trying to look casual, Jim took a breath and leaned back in his chair.

“Well...I found myself in Gotham because...I couldn’t stand to stay in my kingdom anymore.” He was quick to explain. “I-It wasn’t for anything  _ bad _ , I mean my parents were great, my life was comfortable, but...I couldn’t deal with the...politics around me. I had to get away from it all, going from town to town until I found myself in a new kingdom. I meant to keep going, keep exploring, but-”

He glanced up at Penguin. “But there was something about Gotham that made me want to stay.”

Penguin smiled back at him. Their moment was interrupted by a scoff from Selina.

“Well if you hated politics in your kingdom, I don’t see how you could stay in Gotham. Everyone  _ hates _ Lady Moony, and her laws are unfair; if you don’t follow them to a ‘T’, your head will end up on a pike.”

Bridgit nodded. “She taxed our farm to the brink of collapse.”

Ivy shuffled her feet. “And threw my parents in the dungeon for a crime they didn’t commit.”

Zsasz stood up and slammed a fist on the table. “And that’s why we’re taking the bitch down!”

Other Rogues pounded on the table in agreement. Jim looked around in confusion, he thought of Zsasz’s past. “W-What? As in...are you planning to assassinate her?”

Penguin waved his hands to quiet everyone. “No. No we’re not going to assassinate her.”

Zsasz frowned. “We should, she deserves it. She almost assassinated  _ you _ .”

“No.” Penguin pointed. “She will face the justice of the people, not us.”

Selina mumbled. “I’m sure the people would agree with Zsasz. They seem to have no problem with us robbing her greedy lackeys.”

“Mhm,” Bridgit nodded, “or burning up some of their properties.”

Jim looked at everyone. “Wait, you’re...criminals?” He landed on Penguin. “All of you?”

Penguin was cut off by Jerome laughing. “Are you serious? We tried to  _ rob _ you. Obviously we’re criminals!”

“I-I thought that was more of a ‘I trespassed into your territory’ kind of thing.”

Selina joined Jerome’s snickering. “Really? You think we’re just living peacefully in the woods until someone wanders too close?”

“I don’t know! But with Penguin as your leader I didn’t think you’d be committing  _ crimes _ .”

This time Penguin did get a word in. “Jim...I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not as bad as it seems. We never attack peasants, only the rich, and people who deserve it.”

Getting nothing more than a stare from Jim, Penguin continued. “We don’t really have a choice. We’re all exiles, runaways, it’s not like we can walk into town and get jobs. It’s either rob a few carriages or die.”

Jim crossed his arms and sighed. “I don’t think those are your only two choices. When I left the- When I left my home I didn’t have anything, but I never turned to crime.”

“So you think we’re wicked for what we’ve done?” Penguin narrowed his eyes, the first bit of anger Jim saw from him. “And what, pray tell, do you think of the robber barons and corrupt public officers who hoarded the wealth in the first place?”

“There are laws-!”

“Laws  _ they’ve _ created!”

“And that you can’t undo!”

Jeremiah intervened. “Actually we could. Penguin and I have been discussing strategic visits to Gotham, and we’ve been organizing a coup for some time. There’s been political unrest ever since King Elijah died, and since we started our campaign there’s been an outpouring of support.”

“So that’s it huh?” Jim threw up his arms. “You’re planning a revolt? You’re going against a queen, who has an  _ army _ , with a bunch of  **peasants** ?”

Penguin slammed his hand on the table. “What else can we do Jim? Let her continue to terrorize them? Gotham is my home! Those are my people and I will not let them suffer!”

“Those aren’t  _ your _ people! You have no authority, you’re nothing to them!”

The room was quiet as everyone glared at Jim, except Penguin who just looked hurt. Even though Jim softened his tone, he didn’t back down.

“When I spared your life I didn’t expect you to put it right back in danger.”

“You may have saved my life, and I thank you for that, but you don’t decide what I do with it.”

The two held each other’s gaze and then Jim backed away from the table. “I wish you all the best, but...I can’t stay and support this.”

He gave one more look around the room, avoiding Penguin’s eyes, and then he exited the cottage.

No one followed him, he didn’t expect them too, and after navigating his way through the woods Jim was back home. He dropped all his tools on the table, but paused when he saw the knife with the engraved fish.

It was true he’d only known Penguin for a short time, but they already had such a strong connection that Jim felt he knew him. He couldn’t imagine how that sweet, wide-eyed, man could become the leader of a group of vandals, and a revolutionary on top of that. Although Lady Fish wanted him dead for a reason, so maybe he had tried rebelling before, but...when Jim had told him of the assassination plot, Penguin had seemed surprised. 

Jim picked up the knife and weighed it in his hand. There was no doubt Lady Fish deserved to face consequences, but was rioting the way to do it? Then again, the people didn’t have much of a choice since they didn’t have a higher power to go to. Maybe there was another kingdom they could go to for aid...except what kingdom would risk going to war for a bunch of peasants?

Jim put the knife back on the table and collapsed into his bed. He just didn’t want anyone to get hurt, or for Lady Fish to retaliate and cause more suffering. He turned on his side and tightly closed his eyes. Gotham’s politics weren’t his problem.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next couple of days Jim tried to return to business as usual. He continued to hunt in the woods, making sure he didn’t get too close to where he knew the Rogue’s camp would be. However, just as he’d been thinking of Penguin for the past few years, he couldn’t stop thinking about the other man. Part of Jim wanted to go back, to apologize at least, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He just had to keep going on his own path.

Jim dropped his recent game on the butcher’s table with a thud. The older man picked through it, inspecting each piece.

“Not bad. Unfortunately, with these latest tax hikes I can’t afford to pay you what it’s worth.”

“That’s fine.” Jim muttered. “I’ll take anything you can give me.”

The butcher nodded. “I’ll be right back then.”

Jim watched him walk towards the back of the shop, but then something else caught his eye. Right past the butcher’s shoulder was a poster. He squinted to get a better look, and then his eyes widened. There was a penguin on it with a fish in its mouth, and the text below said ‘Penguins Eat Fish’. The word ‘Rogues’ was also on there, along with some other text Jim couldn’t make out by the time the butcher came back.

He handed Jim some coins. “I wish I could give you more, but-”

Jim barely acknowledged the money. “That poster…can you tell me about it?”

For a moment the butcher looked scared, so Jim clarified. “I promise I won’t tell the queen. I only want to know about it.”

The butcher glanced around and then invited Jim inside. They walked to the back and the butcher took it off his wall.

“Well...I happened to be buying some vegetables from this friendly redhead when her partner started asking me questions about Lady Fish. So, I told her what I thought, didn’t hold back, and then she offered me this poster. I got a good lecture on these ‘Rogues’ too.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Some of the things they do, robbing from the rich, terrorizing the corrupt and generally causing lots of trouble for Lady Fish.”

“Hm,” Jim frowned a little, “and what do you think of all that?”

“Hell I’m in favor of it. I even pledged to join their-” he leaned in to whisper, “revolution. It’s time to take the false queen off the throne.”

“And...you’re not worried about getting killed? Or what’ll happen to your family?”

“I’m more worried about what’ll happen if I don’t do anything. I’m certainly not happy about this situation, but I at least have to try. That’s why me and my brother are heading out to their rendezvous tomorrow.”

“Rendezvous?”

The butcher pointed to the writing at the bottom of the poster listing a time and a place. “Lots of people are gathering at the Rogue’s camp tomorrow. Going to go over strategy and do some training. Think you’d be interested?”

Jim stared at the poster, at the penguin.

After a handshake and a farewell, Jim walked back through the streets of Gotham, passing people and horses. The image of the poster was burned into his brain. He couldn’t stop thinking about it until he heard someone call to him.

“Huntsman!”

Jim turned around and immediately scowled. It was Lady Fish in her carriage. She had a big smile on her face when Jim stomped over.

He spoke gruffly. “What do you want?”

“Ouch dear, is that any way to greet royalty?”

“It’s how I greet you. Now what do you want?”

“Oh nothing, I was simply out for a ride when I thought I’d say ‘hello’ to my favorite huntsman.” She could tell Jim didn’t buy it. “I also thought I’d offer him a ride because I have something to show him.”

“I’m not getting in that carriage.”

Lady Fish leaned out of her window, her smile still in place. “Either you get in this carriage, or I will drag you behind it.”

Almost out of nowhere, Jim noticed soldiers closing in on him. He looked at Fish again before climbing into the carriage.

They rode back to the castle in silence. Once inside, Jim expected they’d go to the throne room, but instead he was led somewhere else. After going up stairs and down several hallways, they stopped at Lady Fish’s bedroom. The guards had been following them the whole way, but were left outside as Lady Fish and Jim entered.

Jim glanced around and scoffed. “I’m flattered, but not interested.”

She rolled her eyes as she crossed the room. “On that we can’t agree. Do you have a second guess as to why I brought you here?”

For the first time in a while, he felt the weight of the engraved knife on his hip. “Are you going to ask me to kill anyone else for you?”

“Anyone else...now  _ that’s _ funny.” She pulled a cloth off of a mirror. “No, no. I’d just like you to listen to this.”

“Listen? To a mirror?”

“Oh, but this isn’t any ordinary mirror. It’s a magic mirror, and it always tells the truth.” She ran a hand along its frame. “I haven’t used it in a few years because I didn’t think I had to anymore. Recently I was feeling down so I came to my mirror for some good news. Do you want to guess what it told me instead?”

Jim’s mouth had gone dry. The way Lady Fish looked at him made it tempting to reach for the knife. He straightened himself, trying to appear casual.

“I haven’t the faintest idea.”

Her lips curled into a sinister half-smile. “No? Alright, I’ll ask it again.” She stood in front of the mirror. “Looking-glass upon the wall, who is fairest of us all?"

The glass became cloudy as it answered. "Queen, thou art of beauty rare, but Penguin living in the woods with the seven rogues is a thousand times more fair."

Lady Fish turned back to Jim. “Penguin? Living? Why am I hearing these words?”

Jim shrugged. “Maybe he survived.”

“I ate his heart, I don’t know anyone who could recover from that.”

“Well, you have a magic mirror, maybe he had magic on his side.” Seeing how upset Lady Fish got, and knowing he was already caught, Jim decided to keep pushing. “Also, a question if I may...is that  _ really _ what you asked your mirror? You asked about  _ looks _ ? You had me kill a man because he’s more attractive than you?”

She clenched her fists and barked. “My reasons are no business of yours! You had a job and you failed me! I should have you executed for your treason!” After taking a few breaths she regained her cool demeanor. “That’s what I  _ should _ do. However, I’m going to give you another chance. I want you to kill Penguin by tomorrow night, or else.”

“Or else  _ what _ ? You’ll kill me? Ever since I let Penguin go I’ve been expecting you to hunt me down, so forgive me if I’m not threatened.”

Lady Fish didn’t waver. “Or else...I will burn these woods to the ground, until I find him. Then I will kill him slowly and publicly, so all of his little  _ followers _ know not to cross me.”

Jim raised an eyebrow. “F-Followers? What are you-”

“Oh don’t play dumb, everyone in this town knows about The Rogues. I know they’ve been infiltrating my kingdom, and trying to infect my citizens with silly ideas of revolution.”

“Silly? You don’t think they’re serious about a revolt?”

“Oh I never said that. I do believe they’re planning a revolt, but what’s silly is that they think they have a chance. You see,” she started to pace around the room, “that’s another reason I want Penguin out of the picture. If he’s gone, there will be no revolution; and therefore many innocent lives will be spared that would have otherwise been lost in battle.”

She had a point there, Jim thought. If there was no Penguin, no symbol, it would be harder to rally the people. Lady Fish circled him.

“So huntsman, what will you do? Will you spare the life of one...or many?”

Jim shook his head and looked at her. “W-Why me?”

“For one thing, I love irony, and secondly, you know where he is.”

“What makes you think that?”

She gestured at her magic mirror. “Because...the same day I found out Penguin was alive I wanted to track down the man to blame, and to my surprise it said you were  _ also _ with the seven Rogues.”

Seeing that Jim had no response, Lady Fish smiled. “So, tomorrow night I’m going to ask my mirror again, and if I don’t like what I hear...I  **will** take matters into my own hands. Do you understand?”

Jim mumbled. “Yes.”

“Pardon me?”

“ **Yes.** I understand.”

“Good! I’ll have my guards show you out.” She led him to the door. “Best of luck huntsmen, truly.”

He saw her smile one more time before the guards started pushing him back down the hall.

* * *

Once the castle gate was closed behind him, Jim went back to his cabin to think. There had to be some way he could keep everyone safe from Lady Fish’s wrath. Maybe he could sneak into the castle and break the mirror so she’d never find out if Penguin was alive. No, it’d be impossible to get past the guards. Maybe they could fake Penguin’s death again, put him into a deep sleep, or he could try bringing Lady Fish a different kind of proof, like cutting off a finger or toe or…

Jim groaned and put his face in his hands. It was impossible. Either Penguin had to die, or hundreds of citizens did. Unless, Jim was hit with another idea, maybe if he got Penguin to call off the revolution and use that as a bartering chip for his life. Surely Lady Fish wouldn’t  _ want _ to kill more than half her population in a battle so maybe, just maybe, she could overlook her vanity for the sake of her kingdom. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had.

The next morning, Jim set out. Having only been to The Rogue’s camp once, and with a guide, it was a bit difficult for him to navigate his way back. It was almost midday when he finally arrived, and he was shocked to see droves of other people littered around the area. Young, old, farmers, seamstresses, all kinds of people filled the camp. Jim stumbled around until he saw a familiar face.

“Selina!”

She wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, you’re back? I thought you couldn’t ‘stay and support  _ this _ ’, or what you said to break Pengy’s heart.”

“Hey, I’m sor… Wait, what? I-I think that’s an exaggeration.”

“I don’t know, you really did a number on him.”

“Well I didn’t  _ mean _ -” He shook his head. “Look, I need to talk to Penguin about something very important, so can you tell me where he is?”

Selina made a great deal of thinking about it. “Hm... _ can _ I tell you where he is? Sure.  _ Will _ I? That’s a different question.”

“Selina please! It is a matter of life and death!”

She gave him a look and then shrugged. “Fine. He’s in the cottage having some meeting.”

Jim pushed past her and she called after him. “But if he doesn’t want to talk to you, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Weaving through more peasants, he ended up in front of the cottage. It looked exactly the same, but it felt nowhere near as inviting as the time Penguin brought him in. Having a moment of doubt, Jim froze outside the door. What if Penguin wouldn’t hear him out, or rejected him? No, he couldn’t turn away, lives were counting on him.

Jim opened the door and saw Penguin at the dining room table, along with Jeremiah and several others. Everyone looked up, and Penguin met Jim’s eyes. They stared at each other for a beat, and then Penguin cleared his throat, returning to his meeting.

“A-Anyway...about the...about…” He kept glancing at Jim. Finally he sighed and gestured to Jeremiah. “J-Jeremiah here knows the rest of the plan so...so I’ll let him take over from here. I have...I have to take care of something. Thank you all.”

He stood up and signalled for Jim to follow. They went upstairs, back to Penguin’s bedroom. Once the door was closed, Penguin turned around to Jim. However, anything Jim had to say disappeared from his mind. Even though Penguin didn’t look happy to see him, he was happy to see Penguin.

The room was quiet for several seconds, filling the distance between them, and then Penguin crossed his arms. “Well?”

Jim blinked to clear his thoughts. “Right, yes I...have some very important news.”

“Which is?”

Thinking how to phrase it, Jim took a breath and decided to just be as honest as he could. “Lady Fish knows you’re alive.”

There was another bout of silence. Jim carefully watched Penguin’s face, seeing each microexpression of fear, sadness, understanding, as he processed the situation. After what felt like an eternity, Penguin sighed.

“It was bound to happen.”

“And she still wants you dead.”

This time Penguin laughed. “I assumed as much. May I ask how you came across this information? Not that I don’t trust you, but I can’t imagine Lady Fish announcing it to the town.”

“Well...I found out because she told me.” Jim risked a step forward. “She invited me into the castle and showed me this...magic mirror which told her you were still alive.”

“A magic mirror?” Penguin rested his chin on his hand. “I knew she dabbled in poisons and such, but actual magic?”

“I saw it with my own two eyes, and heard it too.”

“Does...does she know I’m here?”

“She knows you’re with The Rogues, but that’s all.”

Penguin started pacing. “That’s good. Did she tell you anything else about her plan? Is she going to start a search party, launch an attack?”

“No…” Jim scoffed, “she actually sent me again.”

“Really? After you did such a  _ great _ job last time?”

Jim opened his mouth, and then he caught Penguin smiling. They both started to laugh, the tension melting away. When they stopped, Jim took another step forward, taking a more serious tone.

“I should also let you know that we only have until tonight. Then she’s going to start hunting you down, and destroying anything in her path.”

Penguin sat down on the bed. “That certainly complicates things.”

Jim sat down beside him. “That’s why I’ve come up with a plan. I think maybe, just maybe, if you call off the revolt she’ll let you live.”

“Call off the-! No! Why would-” Penguin stopped and spoke quietly. “She knows about the revolution?”

“Yeah…b-but you see that’s why I think my plan will work! She might be a terrible queen, but I believe she doesn’t want to fight her own people. So if you tell everyone to back down then-”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? Penguin, there are  _ lives _ at stake.”

“I can’t do that to these people. They’re counting on me, they’ve risked everything joining our cause. I’m not going to send them back to suffer under Lady Fish’s oppression.”

“If you don’t, you’ll die.”

“And?” Penguin stood up. “If I call off the revolt she’ll come after me anyway! The only chance I have is if we take over before she can do any damage! I can’t call it off, we have to move it up instead.”

As he started to march for the door, Jim got in his way. “ **What** ? No, no no no.”

“Yes, Jim! If we don’t, things will only get worse. You’ve made it clear Lady Fish will stop at nothing to get to me, and do you really think she’d forgive all these people who went against her?”

Jim opened his mouth to argue back, but Penguin kept talking. “If we give up now we’ll be no better off than if we tried. I’d rather die taking a risk than running away.”

Looking as pleading as he could, Jim didn’t back down. “Please…don’t do this. Why can’t we just run away?”

Penguin met Jim’s eyes with an equally sad look. Then in a flash, he stole the dagger from Jim’s belt. He pointed it at himself. “Kill me then. If you think removing me from the situation will save these people, then do it.”

“Penguin...” Jim’s voice was shaking.

“Kill me or trust me, Jim.”

They held each other’s gaze. Jim glanced at the knife and then back to Penguin’s face. He stepped forward and took hold of the dagger. Standing close, with only the blade’s distance between them, Jim made the decision to kiss Penguin.

When Jim pulled away he also pocketed the dagger. Penguin smiled up at him with that dreamy look he was becoming accustomed to, and it made Jim smirk a little.

“Don’t make me regret this.”

“Thank you, Jim.”

Penguin gave him a quick kiss before taking his hand and pulling him out the door. They rushed downstairs just as Jeremiah was finishing the meeting.

“And those will be our next steps as we continue to move forward.” Jeremiah shuffled his papers. “Any ques-”

Penguin almost knocked the other man out of his chair as he went to stand at the head of the table. “There’s been a change of plans. Lady Fish has learned of our revolution. We need to strike before she starts putting up her defenses, which means we’re moving our attack to tomorrow!”

There was a moment of silence as everyone took it in. Jeremiah seemed frozen until he tossed his stack of papers in the air with a shout.

“That’s it! I’ve had it! Sure, why not?” He started laughing and pacing. “Let’s just cram all this training and planning into one day! That’s fine! You people...are all... _ insane _ !”

Jeremiah threw one last look around the room, raised his arms and then stomped out of the cottage grumbling. Everyone watched, taken aback by his outburst. Penguin cleared his throat and put on a strained smile.

“I-I’m sure he’s fine. Everyone else...you’ve heard the plan and now you know our new deadline. I hate to rush you all, but...let’s get to work!”

A few people shook their heads, but they all got up and headed outside. After the room was empty, Penguin sighed.

“Well, I suppose we should do our best to help them prepare.”

“Probably. It’ll be hard to make an army in a day.” Jim put a comforting hand on Penguin’s shoulder, and then they walked into the camp.


End file.
